Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Introduction
This word fear is a long forgotten word of the this modern church age that we live in. It’s not fear. It’s fun and fellowship. In this day and age of foolishness, the bible says (Psalm 111:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: In this day and age, where we turn to doctors and lawyers, to education and the government, the bible says, (Psalm 119:79) Let those that fear thee turn unto me… In this day and age of uncleaness, immorality, and defilement, the bible says (Psalm 19:9) The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever:
There’s little talk about the fear of the Lord. But the bible says, (Psalm 64:9) And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; And the bible says, (Psalm 33:8) Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. And of his people, the bible says, (Psalm 34:9) O fear the LORD, ye his saints: The bible says to (Psalm 2:11) Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. The Psalmist said (Psalm 5:7) In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
(Psalm 34:11) Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. I think that the fear of the Lord is something that we ought to learn about. In Ecclesiastes, the preacher of preachers said this, (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Peter, in his epistle he said very plainly (1 Peter 2:17) Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. And even Jesus said (Matthew 10:28) And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The Psalmist said (Psalm 34:11) Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. I think the fear of the Lord is something we ought to learn about. The apostle Paul, he said to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 12:28) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
He said, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. I think that the fear of the Lord through this modern age has been unlearned. I think it needs to be relearned. I think it will help us. I think that it will help us to learn a little bit about the object of fear; which is God
- I think it will help us in our prayer. Nehemiah prayed to God he said, (Nehemiah 1:5) I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God,
- I think it will help us in the home. Again from Nehemiah, he said, (Nehemiah 4:14) And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
- I think it will help us in our service toward him. In Job, the oldest book of the bible it says, (Job 37:22) With God is terrible majesty.
- I think it will help us understand the holiness of God. The prophet Nahum, the one that said, The LORD is good also said (Nahum 1:5,6) The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.
There’s two verses I want to bring to your attention. In Genesis, when Jacob finally leaves Laban with his wives and children and substance and goes back to his homeland, we know that Laban pursues Jacob and when he catches up with him, they have some words and some conflict about Laban’s idols, but Jacob says this (Genesis 31:42) Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty… And after they make a covenant and an altar or a heap of stones Jacob again says (Genesis 31:53) The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. That word fear. It means dread. It means the object of dread. And for God to the object of our dread and fear, he must needs be our fear and our dread. (Isaiah 8:13) Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
Let me say that again, let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And I want to say this, if God is our fear and our dread, then everything about God is fearful and dreadful. You say, “Preacher I think that’s taking things a little to serious!” I don’t think we take the things of God serious enough. (1 Corinthians 2:14,15) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. I think it grieves God for us to be so flippant about the things of God. The bible says, (Ephesians 4:30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. The bible says (Psalm 64:9) And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; All the works of God are fearful and dreadful. I want to give you three things that speak as to why God should be our fear and our dread.
His Presence is Dreadful and Fearful
God has a presence because he’s present. (Matthew 18:20) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. In the book of Revelation, in his letter to the church of Ephesus, he is him (Revelaton 2:1) who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; and those candlesticks are the churches. (Rev 1:20) The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Yes God is present therefore he has a presence. (1 Cor 3:16,17) Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (1 Cor 6:19,20) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. God is present and his presence is dreadful and fearful, and not just his presence before the sinner, but before the saint as well.
In the book of Genesis, when God revealed himself to Jacob in a dream. Jacob saw that ladder going up into heaven, and those angels ascending and descending the ladder. There God established his covenant with Jacob. The LORD stood above that ladder and said (Genesis 28:13,14) I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Those were some great words of promise from God, then he had some wonderful words of comfort. He said, (15) And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. But even in God’s presence, with promise and comfort came great fear. The bible says (16,17) And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
And then you look at the time that Jacob wrestled with God. A time of testing and trying. A time of blessing. A time of change. In God’s presence was there was a change in this man. His name from hence was called Israel. So present was God, that he touched the hollow of his thigh; and it was out of joint that time forward. Jacob wrestled with God and the bible says this: (Genesis 32:30) And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Remember what the bible said of Moses and God? (Exodus 33:18-20) And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. So even in God’s goodness, and graciousness, and mercy, there is fear and dread in his presence.
Now, consider the angels. Remember the angel at the tomb of Jesus? The bible says (Matthew 28:3-5) His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. Now if the angel’s presence can cause so much fear and dread, how much more the presence of God himself. The bible talks about the holy angels. How much more the holiness of God.
An angel of the LORD appeared unto the parents of Samson. Manoah’s wife said (Judges 13:5) A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: They offered meat offering upon a rock to the Lord, and the bible says (Judges 13:19,20) the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. And the bible says (21,22) Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die… If the holy angel’s presence can cause so much fear and dread, how much more the presence of God himself.
We look at Daniel and his visions of things to come. After fasting three weeks, he was by the river Hiddekel and he saw a vision (Daniel 10:5-7) Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. And Daniel was there alone with this man (Some people say it was an angel, but it sure sounds like Jesus to me). But Daniel said (8) and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. And then the man spoke to Daniel and gave him the vision, the prophecy. And Daniel then said (15-17) And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb… O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
Remember when Zacharias, John the Baptist’s Father, was performing his duties as a priest before God when it was his turn in the order of things? He was burning incense in the temple of God. The bible says (Luke 1:11,12) And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. And Zacharias came out of the temple dumb, and couldn’t say a word. If the holy angel’s presence can cause so much fear and dread, how much more the presence of God himself.
When God touched the lips of the profit Isaiah the bible says, (Isaiah 6:5) Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. The holy presence of God makes him fearful and dreadful. When John was taken up to heaven in the Spirit, the bible says he heard a voice behind him. It was the voice of God. And when he turned around to see to whom this voice was coming from, the bible says, (Revelation 1:12-16) I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And John wrote (17) And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.
Job said (13:21,22) Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. And he also said (42:5,6) I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. The presence of God, the holiness of God reveals to us our unholiness. His goodness and mercy reveals to us our iniquity and need for mercy. (Hosea 3:5) Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
You think about these hurricanes of late, and the delicate balance between land and sea. It’s so rare that these things happen. Most of the time, a grand majority of the time, the raging storms of the sea never touch our land. The great oceans have little or nothing to do with here this dry ground, and it’s by the merciful hand of God (Jeremiah 5:22) Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
God also said through Jeremiah (33:8,9) And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
God’s presence, in holiness and judgement, in goodness and mercy, protection and provision, is fearful and dreadful. (Isaiah 8:13) Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
His Name is Dreadful and Fearful
His Worship and Service is Dreadful and Fearful
(Philippians 2:12,13) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.